Wanshou Ward was not considered large.
In just one afternoon, the news of Yang An receiving rewards spread throughout the entire ward, becoming known to everyone.
Everyone heard that Li Yan of the Li family was granted the title of Third-Class Zan'niao.
Yang An was granted the title of Second-Class Shangzao.
He also received several chests of gold, silver, and jewelry. Everyone in the ward believed that the Li family was about to skyrocket in status. For a time, regardless of whether they usually interacted, neighbors came to visit Yang An with gifts.
The news even spread to other wards.
Several distant cousins and relatives who had no prior contact with Li Yan, or didn't even know him, also came to congratulate him and try to build connections.
Looking at the endless stream of guests pouring in, and his sister and brother-in-law busily socializing, Yang An couldn't help but sigh that the Li family had never been this lively. He casually fed the preserved fruits and jujube cakes he bought on his way back to Manman.
Manman, who had been gnawing on dried meat for two days, finally got a change of taste. Eating the sweet preserved fruits, her little head bobbed back and forth happily.
The liveliness continued from noon until night.
The people who came to visit and give gifts gradually dispersed. After dealing with everyone, Li Yan and Yang Ning were so exhausted they didn't even care about eating dinner, nearly collapsing into their chairs.
They didn't want to move a single finger.
However, despite their exhaustion, their faces were filled with joy. They had never been this happy in their entire lives.
They were even so happy they feared they were dreaming.
Li Yan held Yang Ning's hand and sighed, We have a good younger brother.
It's me who has a good younger brother!
Yang Ning glared at him and emphasized.
Yes, yes, yes, you have a good younger brother, and I have a good brother-in-law. Li Yan laughed loudly, and Yang Ning joined in.
Yang An held Manman and smiled along.
Such peaceful and happy times hadn't been felt in a long time.
The three of them chatted and laughed for a while.
Li Yan moved the treasures rewarded by the imperial court into the house. Yang Ning stared blankly at the gold, silver, and precious fabrics inside, her eyes turning into the shape of copper coins.
So much money! I've never seen so much money! Yang Ning suddenly turned to stare at Li Yan and Yang An, warning them, You two are not allowed to spend it recklessly!
Li Yan was used to listening to Yang Ning.
He naturally had no objections.
But Yang An, unwilling to be disciplined, raised his hand and said, Sis, money is something you can't bring with you when you're born or take with you when you die. It's only real when you spend it.
Saying that.
Yang An, who only had gold on him, prepared to take a few dozen taels of silver from the chest to use.
Yang Ning pulled out a rolling pin like a magic trick.
And smashed it on the chest.
Bang!
Yang An abruptly retracted his hand that was reaching for the silver and said in annoyance, Are you still my real sister? You won't even let me take a little silver!
Yang Ning rolled her eyes and said, How can you spend it recklessly? This money is all for you to marry a wife in the future!
Pointing at the several chests in front of her.
She happily calculated: This chest of money will buy you a large three-courtyard house in the inner city of Yunzhou. This chest of money will get you a virtuous and beautiful primary wife. The money saved will be used to marry a few more concubines for you!
That way, you can spread the branches and leaves for our old Yang family!
Let our family prosper with many descendants soon!
Yang An took back his previous words, Sis, you really are my dearest, dearest, dearest sister!
Li Yan's mouth twitched.
He felt that their old Li family also needed to spread its branches and leaves, but fearing Yang Ning would fight him to the death if he said it, he swallowed the words back.
After Yang Ning carefully counted the money over and over again.
She excitedly replaced the locks on the money chests with new ones, and sealed them one by one with sealing strips. After finishing all this busywork, she finally wiped her sweat in satisfaction.
But she still felt uneasy.
Afraid that the money would fly away or that this was a dream.
Yang Ning pulled the corner of Yang An's clothes, her voice carrying a bit of apprehension: Erlang, is our family really living a good life now? Sister isn't dreaming, is she? Yang An smiled and said, How could you be? Our family's life will only get better and better.
After saying this.
Thinking of the Cui and Lin families, the smile on Yang An's face gradually sank. Their family was still a long way from true happiness.
There was still a long road ahead.
Seeing Yang An's expression suddenly change, Yang Ning asked, Erlang, is there some trouble?
Although she still didn't know exactly what had happened.
But she knew her brother too well.
She knew he always liked to carry everything on his own shoulders.
Yang Ning pursed her lips and said, Erlang, has our family encountered something? You still have me and your brother-in-law at home. If there's anything, you must discuss it with us. Don't carry it alone, okay?
The methods of the Cui and Lin families were too sinister.
Moreover, Yang An still didn't know the other party's motives, making it hard to defend against. In order to make his sister and brother-in-law more vigilant in the future, Yang An detailed how Wang Gou'er and Zheng Huaiyi set a trap to harm them.
How Sun Ming came to arrest them.
And how the families of Wang Gou'er and Zheng Huaiyi were completely silenced that morning. He told Yang Ning and Li Yan everything in detail, one by one.
After learning that the matters behind this were related to the Cui and Lin families.
Li Yan felt a chill all over his body.
Wang Gou'er's Wang Family Bank was the largest money merchant in Yunzhou, making him the wealthiest man in Yunzhou, while Zheng Huaiyi monopolized the entire medicinal materials business in Yunzhou. Both were prominent figures in Yunzhou.
However, such two people.
Were merely pawns used by the Cui and Lin families to harm them!
One was the Prefect of Yunzhou.
The other was the Jiedushi of Yunzhou. The two most powerful people in all of Yunzhou actually set their sights on their family, and went through so much trouble to want them dead. What on earth was it for!?
Could it be because of him?
Because he killed Lin Hao's fierce beast when saving someone?
Li Yan felt guilty towards the Yang siblings, and said with a bitter face, Erlang, A'Ning, I've implicated you.
Yang An: ...
Don't say that, brother-in-law.
If nothing unexpected happens, it's probably me and Sis who implicated you...
Yang Ning gripped her cup tightly.
Invisibly, she had an intuition that the Cui and Lin families targeting them was inextricably linked to that mysterious chant in her mind.
She had to find an opportunity to tell Erlang this chant quickly!
Li Yan looked solemn: Erlang, let's leave Yunzhou! Anyway, we have money now, at worst we can move far away. As long as the three of us are together, it doesn't matter where we live!
In the past, Yang An might have agreed with Li Yan.
But now.
After experiencing several life-and-death situations, he had completely figured it out.
To survive in this twisted world, one must firmly grasp power and strength. Those who want to harm you will never show mercy because of your weak pleading.
Only when the butcher's knife in your hand is sharper than theirs.
Will they not dare to swing their knife at you!
Where can we go if we leave Yunzhou? Yang An's gaze was firm. We're not moving, we'll stay right here! Brother-in-law, don't worry. Although the Cui and Lin families have great influence, we are not lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Didn't I say before that I climbed a high branch?
Lord Wu Zhe came to save me precisely on her orders. With her around, our family will definitely be fine!
Saying this, fearing Li Yan wouldn't believe him.
Yang An took out the Foundation Establishment materials given by Princess Anle, and opened the beast blood among them. The moment the essence blood of a seventh-grade fierce beast was opened, a baleful aura rushed out!
The dense baleful aura condensed into a fierce beast.
As a fierce aura lunged out from the mouth of the bottle, Yang Ning trembled all over in fright and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, Li Yan supported her from behind just in time.
The moment Manman saw the blood of the fierce beast.
Her eyes instantly lit up.
Even the candied fruit in her hand no longer felt sweet, and she could not stop drooling from the corner of her mouth. Sitting on Yang An's lap, she tilted her little head up and rubbed against his chin.
Her beautiful big eyes were full of longing.
"You want to eat it?" Yang An glanced at her, and Manman nodded as rapidly as a little chick pecking at rice.
"Keep dreaming!"
Yang An sneered. With a sharp click, he snapped the cap back on the bottle and placed the beast blood back into the jade box.
Manman: ...
Puffing her cheeks in anger, Manman hopped down from Yang An's lap.
She kicked her short little legs.
Then she turned around, climbed onto Yang Ning's lap, and sat down. She deliberately turned her back to Yang An, her little shoulders slightly hunched.
She put on a complete "I am mad at you" look.
"This is the blood of a peak Rank Seven beast!" Li Yan exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock. For the past few days, he had been fretting over the first-grade Foundation Establishment materials for Yang An, never expecting that in the blink of an eye, the materials would already be prepared.
And looking closely at that quality.
It was probably no ordinary Rank Seven fierce beast.
It had to be a peak Rank Seven fierce beast!
Suppressing his shock, Li Yan said, "Just this small bottle of fierce beast essence blood is probably more precious than several chests of jewelry rewarded by the imperial court combined. To casually bestow such a precious item upon someone shows that our Yang Erlang has indeed found a backer with immense weight!"
From the time he lay injured in bed to the moment he stood back up.
The pillar of the family had already shifted to Yang An. Li Yan felt both gratified and genuinely happy. He sighed with emotion, "Our family's Erlang has grown up all of a sudden."
Yang An smiled in embarrassment.
Li Yan laughed, "Since Erlang has a plan in mind, your brother-in-law is relieved. Whatever ideas you have, just go ahead and do them boldly. I may not have any great abilities, but I at least have some brute strength."
"Brothers fight tigers together, and father and son go into battle together."
"No matter what happens, your brother-in-law stands by your side."
Moved, Yang An replied, "Alright!"
"You have been exhausted all day, so your sister and I won't bother you anymore." Li Yan stood up, ready to return to their room to rest with Yang Ning.
However, Yang Ning said, "Husband, you go back and rest first. I still have something I want to talk to Erlang about."
"Something else?"
Seeing this, Li Yan understood that the siblings probably had some private matters to discuss, so he nodded and went back to the room first.
After Li Yan left.
Yang Ning also asked Manman, who was on her lap, to go out first.
Yang An asked curiously, "Sister, if you have something to say, just say it directly. Why be so mysterious?"
Yang Ning, however, hesitated a little.
She felt that this matter was too bizarre and might sound a bit silly if spoken out loud, but there was always a voice in her heart urging her to speak quickly, to tell Erlang immediately.
Yang Ning gritted her teeth.
She poured out everything about her dream and that specific incantation all at once.
As for the specific details of the dream.
Yang Ning could no longer remember them clearly, but she remembered those few lines of the incantation with absolute clarity.
After hearing her out, Yang An was also stunned.
He pondered to himself, "Could it be that the wretched woman was actually right? An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth. Does our family really possess something that makes others green with envy?"
After reciting the incantation.
Yang Ning felt her entire being become much more relaxed, and her mind grew clear and refreshed. She asked eagerly, "Erlang, do you know what this incantation is all about?"
Yang An shook his head.
It was also his first time hearing these lines of the incantation.
...
...
...
Two updates!
I am truly burned out this time.
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ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!